Mobilizing the Church to Evangelize on the Campus

In this series, I will give some perspective and some principles to help churches develop evangelistic ministries on college campuses. These notes are part of a breakout seminar given at the Together For The Gospel 2014 Conference.

 Recognize The Opportunity on Campus

I have spent the last 18 years of my life involved in ministry on a college campus (4 as an undergraduate and then 14 years on staff with Campus Outreach).   One of the reasons that I’ve given so much of my life to spreading the gospel on campus, is the amazing opportunity that I see to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I believe that college campuses may represent one of the most clear places for churches to encourage evangelistic ministry. Let’s think about some reasons it is such a great opportunity.

The Nations are on campus—

One of the campuses in my city has 10,000 students in it’s undergraduate programs on campus.  A population that size would be enough of a reason for a church to consider starting evangelistic ministry there. When the demographics are broken down, all 50 states are represented as well as about 144 different countries.  By going to this one campus, you can meet students from New England and the Pacific Northwest living in the same dorm.  From California to Texas, to the Southeast and the Midwest, they are all there on campus. I’ve met and had the opportunity to share the gospel with students from China, Pakistan, Morocco, Iran, and India.  You can have the opportunity to share the gospel with people from all over the world by traveling to your local college campus.

A Concentrated Community --

Not only do college campuses contain the nations, but it’s all in one concentrated place.  If you compare the average college campus to your average suburban neighborhood in America, there is a stark contrast.  In the suburbs, people live in neighborhoods and scatter over a larger area to live their lives.  They may commute 30 minutes or more to work, they commute  to the gym, to eat out, for recreation and leisure time. 

 

College Campuses are typically set up where everything someone needs is there. They are almost like “a city within a city”.  Students study, work, eat all their meals, and sleep on campus.  Their social life, their recreation (gym and intramurals), even most of their entertainment (college sports, etc) are all there in the few square miles that make up a college campus.  Any neighborhood that would present such a concentrated opportunity would be a tremendous sort of mission field for a church.  It really is an amazing opportunity for churches to do evangelistic ministry.

               

  

Consider The Time of Life -- 

Though college students may sometimes seem like “know it alls” they are still trying to figure things out.  For most it is their first time away from their homes and families.  They are in a time in their lives where they are trying to figure out what they believe and what their lives will be about.  They are training for the future (or at least they’re supposed to be) and many are ambitious to be leaders and to have an impact.  No one goes to college to stay the same. The campus culture typically promotes dialogue, open debate, and gaining exposure to new things.  From my experience, the college campus is a place where many students are willing to listen and talk about the gospel.  

How to Pray in Times of Trouble -- Lesson 2

Lesson 2--
When in trouble, Pray for those who persecute you
 *This post is the 2nd in a series of four lessons from Psalm 70 on praying in times of trouble 

^{Psalm 70:2-3}

² May those who want to take my life

    be put to shame and confusion;
may all who desire my ruin
    be turned back in disgrace.
³ May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
    turn back because of their shame.

This trouble that David is in, is that his life is in danger

People were trying to kill him- we see that in verse 2

 “those who seek my life”

“who desire my ruin”—there was an imminent threat of those seeking to hurt and kill him

 In these two verses we see David praying for those who seek his life.

 In Verse 3-

We see that people are saying “Aha, aha”.

Now that’s kind of a strange thing for us. Not many of us find ourselves using language like that.

We see this same phrase in other places in the Psalms

Psalms 35:19-21

“Let not those who gloat over me who are my enemies without cause;

Let not those who hate me without reason maliciously wink the eye

They do not speak peaceably, but devise false accusations against those who live quietly in the land.

They gape at me and say, “Aha! Aha!”

25, “Do not let them think, “Aha, just what we wanted!” or say, “We have swallowed him up”

So what is meant here by “Aha, Aha” is slander.  It’s a sort of taunting or a "pot shot" if you will.

Those who are oppressing David are his enemies.  Not only are they seeking his life, but there is a picture here of them loving to see the demise of someone- “Aha, Aha”.

I help pastor a church on Capitol Hill.  The ugliness of politics may often bring out someone who is seeking the demise of others. Maybe it’s someone who delights in your ruin because they get your job if you mess up.  I’ve talked to members of our church who have said that often someone is willing to “stab you in the back” if it means their advancement and gain.  That’s a picture of this “Aha, Aha” type of statement that delights and gloats in ruining someone.

Now again, we’re not exactly sure why people are trying to kill David

In the prior Psalm 69, it’s clear that David is not being persecuted because of his sin

Psalm 69: 4 refers to “those who hate me without reason”.  So David knew what it is like to be hated and insulted and have people trying to kill him for no reason

With that type of threat and treatment in mind, let’s look at what David is praying for his enemies:

In vs. 2-That they be put to shame and confusion, that they would be turned back in disgrace.

And then in vs. 3- That they would be turned back because of their shame.

Simply put, David is praying for the plans of his enemies to fail. He is asking for their efforts to be frustrated, that they might be turned back in both shame and confusion.  These enemies were seeking evil and David is praying that their plans to shame him would fall right back on themselves.

It is right to pray for those who are doing evil, that their plans will fail.  

This is a great model of how to pray for those who want to cause trouble for us.  We’re told in Scripture that ultimately our enemies are not flesh and blood.  Satan and the forces of darkness, but His evil does manifest itself in real people.  We’re told not to take vengeance against enemies, we’re told not to return insults, or to seek personal retribution. We are not to not take things into our own hands, we are to trust God to execute justice. 

While many of us may not have experienced someone seeking to kill us, we should expect that following Christ will bring insults (family, classmates, co-workers who are waiting for you to mess up)    We’re told in the Bible that all who live a godly live in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Tim. 3:12).

Following Jesus today in today’s culture might get you referred to as extreme, a religious nut, intolerant, or a bigot.

What was happening here to David, is what we can expect
may happen in our lives.

It is what people were doing to Jesus during his crucifixion.

Seeking to kill him, to ruin him, but also to mock him and to hurl insults.

“You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself!

He saved others but he can’t save himself! “

Jesus bore these taunts and insults, and we should expect to bear them too.

 And like David we must remember, when in trouble, pray for those who persecute you.

How to Pray in Times of Trouble -- 4 Lessons from Psalm 70

Lesson 1 -- Respond to Trouble by Praying for Yourself                       *This post is the first in a series of four lessons from Psalm 70 on praying in times of trouble 

Psalm 70:1
"Hasten, O God, to save me;
            come quickly, Lord, to help me.”

The very first thing we see David pray for IS HIMSELF

He’s crying out in prayer to be saved, he’s crying out for help—This is what we see in Verse 1

The tone of his prayer is one of urgency that reflects his situation

Now we don’t know exactly the situation that is taking place here, why his life is being sought, but David’s requests in prayer help us understand he is in a desperate situation, he’s in trouble.

Look at the language that he’s using:

Hasten O God to save me- which means “be quick to do something” Hurry—I need to be saved in a hurry.

Come Quickly, to help me- I need help

The whole psalm is characterized by this sense of urgency

David uses the same type of language down in verse 5 of Psalm 70.

Then in vs. 5- “Come Quickly” to me O God.

“O LORD, Do Not Delay”

So in just 5 verses, David pleads 4 different times “Hasten”, “Come Quickly”, “Come Quickly”, “Do Not Delay”  Four times he pleads to be rescued and delivered.

What we’ve got here is a sort of “SOS” call. A distress signal that David is sending up to God in prayer

One of the first lessons we learn is that it’s okay to pray for yourself.

If you look through the Psalms, you’re going to see that a large portion of the Psalms is spent praising God. In addition you’ll also see large portions of thanksgiving as well as confessing sin against God.

But in this Psalm, David gets straight to the point of praying for himself and his present situation!!!

He prays for himself even before he prays for others

Sometimes our perspective in prayer is: maybe we shouldn’t ask, or maybe we shouldn’t ask for too much.

This Psalm reminds me a lot of a parable that Jesus told in Luke 18-

 The parable of the persistent widow, seeking justice from an unjust judge, she was seeking justice against an adversary—very similar to what is happening in Psalm 70 with David

Vs. 5- because this widow keeps bothering me

We see the Point of the parable in verses6-8:-
If this unjust judge will answer her persistence, how much more will God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.

This is an invitation to bother God, to ask Him, and to be persistent in prayer.

It’s not only okay to pray for ourselves...
we should respond to trouble by praying for ourselves.

God delights in our Asking—He wants us to ask Him.  It is wrong to not come to Him in prayer

God delights in our bringing our trouble to Him- that’s not an annoyance, that’s not petty in His eyes, it’s not a burden to God, that’s not being selfish.

It brings God Glory when we bring our troubles before Him.

The very act of turning to Him in trouble brings Him praise.

It is God’s creative design when it comes to you and I for us to ask Him for things.

Creation is designed in this way.

It brings God a great deal of joy.

Some of you with the blessing of old age are starting to experience physical hardships.

Some of you are dealing with sickness and disease that’s troubling you and bothering you.

Some of you are grieving the loss of a loved one.

Some of you find yourself in trouble spiritually and entangled in sin.

Some of you are in trouble in your marriage and experiencing difficulties in relationships.

Experiencing the trouble of anxiety, loneliness, depression, doubt

The invitation for you is to cry out to your God for help!!!

God delights in you crying out to Him.

God finds praise in your asking of Him.

To those who are in Christ, your invitation is to cry out in such a way that pleads for a speedy answer.

Have faith that He hears the cries of his children and will come to the rescue.